American Media: The real-life Minstrel show

American Stereotyping Media:

A Real-Life Minstrel Show

The Black man in America is the most undervalued, over policed, underestimated , highly incarcerated induvial there ever was and the media has played a pivotal role in getting all types of people, including those of color to believe that they deserve it. From the moment that pen could be put to paper to dehumanize and devalue a black person it was done and it was disproportionately aimed at the black man.

Since the age of slavery, those in charge knew that in order to gain subjection of a group of individuals they would need to breakdown and dominate the strongest amongst those people and since Europeans viewed Men as the leaders of a society (not always the case in African and many other cultures) they made sure that they put black men on display when highlighting what they perceived as weakness. Minstrel shows were American theater developed in the 1900’s, where white people would use Burnt cork or shoe polish to paint their faces black in an attempt to mock the darker skin of black people 1. In these shows they would comically portray racial stereotypes of black people, making a mockery of the. 2

The over exposure and vilification of black men is still prevalent in today’s media couple that with the over incarceration and assassination of their character and you have effectively dehumanized the black man to a grand majority of people, even to those who look just like them.

With the media disproportionality reporting on the criminal activity of the black community in particular black men, repeatedly and consistently, over the course of history, has in bedding the idea in American minds that black people are criminals, monsters and “super predators”3, they have effectively dehumanized and devalued those lives. Making it so that others feel embolden to take those lives and or are uncaring if those lives are taking, no matter in what manner they are taken. For Example, the plain fact that George Zimmerman could pursue a young black “suspicious” male after being told not to by dispatcher and end that boy’s life on the stance of stand your ground, is outrageous, and the film capture the outrange. Trayvon Martin screamed for help before being shot by an adult, an action that would end Treyvon’s life and yet the adult who shot this child went free, and later went on to sell the weapon used to end Treyvon’s life at an auction 4

The media has so thoroughly made us all believe the negative redirect pertaining to black people it has even spilled over into black children and what they think. In 1939 the doll study was conducted and 59% of the black children responded the black doll when “which doll looked bad” when referencing a white and black doll given to the children. 8

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

According to FBI.gov 5 the total number of arrests amongst white people for crimes was 4,729,290 in 2019 and the total number of arrests for Black people was 1,815,144, however research from the American psychological Association shows “that Black individuals are disproportionately represented as perpetrators of crime in news coverage, even when they do not account for a majority of crime rates. For example, a study showed that Black individuals are overrepresented in news reports about violent crime relative to their actual involvement in such crimes.”

Historically when the news reports of criminal and or deviant behavior related to African Americans, society is willing to take that information for face value, since it’s already been established (in the media) that people of color are not naturally productive citizens. The coining of such phrases as “Black on Black crime” further allows for dismissal of arguments against injustice and the need to value black lives including those of black men.6 The way the Media has portrayed black men has led to a deep seeded fear that rears its ugly head when men and women wearing a badge use that fear as fuel to take the lives of people of color. The academy of science indicated in 2019 that black men have an estimated 1 in 1000 change to be killed by police 7

The idea that someone would devalue a human’s life because of the color of their skin in nauseating, and the media sensationalize the downfall of African American homes by perpetuating the stereotypes in the news that we see daily, much like minstrel shows.

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

—Desmond